LITR 5734: Colonial & Postcolonial Literature

Sample Student Final Exams 2008

Essay 1: Describe and evaluate your learning experience or learning curve (Objective 3 + others)

Erica  Shillings

Incorporating Colonialism in an American State of Mind [2^nd half]

 . . . I have brought my colonial knowledge to my place of work.  I have a coworker who came from Nigeria two years ago and since reading Heart of Darkness I ask her questions about her home life.  While I thought she would be offended, but she is happy that someone at work is interested about her culture and country. 

While reading each novel I found myself enjoying the text but would forget to direct my attention to the colonial/postcolonial aspects.  When I began reading Things Fall Apart, I saw a struggle in Okonkwo’s character.  However, the struggle I saw had nothing to do with colonialism.  I saw an internal struggle in Okonkwo to not be like his father resulting in his violent behavior.  When I began identifying these aspects of the novel I knew I would have to remain focused more on colonialism.  This was a challenging thing to do.  From this course, I was taught a new approach to evaluate a text.  After being taught this way of thinking it will be another angle to interpret what I am reading.  Now I will review novels in the form of colonialism in addition to the other points of view I have learned during my college career.

In terms of my midterm I was pleased with the topic.  However, the limited topic forced me to think outside of my comfort zone and view the texts only in terms of colonialism.  As for my research postings, I learned a great deal.  My first research posting was very technical and did not express what I had learned up to that point in the course.  However, my second research posting was the opposite from the first one.  I refrained from using an overwhelming amount of technical information and instead gave a personal opinion to the conclusion of the posting.  With the first posting I wanted to present a question that could be answered with a straight answer: does colonialism still exist?  I concluded with the answer yes.  However, throughout the semester I have learned that there will continue to be investigations and opinions to this question.  I was quick to answer my own question to serve as a convenient response to my audience. 

With my second research posting I asked a question presented in Forster’s novel: can a colonizer adapt to a colonized environment?  I gave a realistic and genuine conclusion which is while Mrs. Moore’s character would be ideal in the situation presented in A Passage to India; Ronny offers a practical point of view.  I also related my own personal experience to both characters and realize that both Mrs. Moore and Ronny are realistic sides to my question.  For me, I concluded that the colonizer’s attitude toward the colonialized lies within the individual.  A person has to decide for themselves when they are ready to accept their environment. 

Every aspect of the course served as a learning tool.  While reading an intriguing novel filled with compelling characters and interesting plots, I was unconsciously learning about cultures.  I felt that attending class was as equally important as keeping up with the assigned reading.  I was able to learn additional information from the other students.  While I did not contribute to class discussions as often as some students, I felt it was in my best interest to absorb the information.  Instead of contributing to topics I knew little about I allowed my classmates and Dr. White to educate me. 

From this course I have realized a number of things.  The course allowed me to see how uninformed I am about past world events.  I am unaware of such things because it is easier to be happy when a person does not acknowledge the hate and violent conflicts in other parts of the world.  Another Literature 5734 student shares the same opinion.  In Georgeann Ward’s 2005 final exam she states, “For me, the most difficult aspect of the course was digesting the unbelievable atrocities experienced in other cultures.”  Ward expresses the shock of other cultures.  While some information is difficult to comprehend it is important to know the events that shaped the country we live in.  Since the beginning of the course I have increased my willingness to seek out additional information on world issues.

In terms of Objective 3 for this course, I have learned to balance my American point of view.  While I have not completely resolved my American ways of thinking, I am making an effort to learn additional information about other cultures.  As the course comes to an end I will continue to keep my American ways of thinking, because that was how I was raised, but will now incorporate colonial thinking.